Switch-point guard



"Nov. 3, 1925. 1,560,244

w. P. KALFF SWITCH POINT GUARD Filed July 25, 1925 INVENTOR wilflam P KMH" ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 3, 1925.

UNITED STATES" PATENT- 1,560,244 OFFICE--7 WILLIAM r. KALFF, or HAWTHORNE, NEW JERsE SWITCH-POINT Guano.

Application filedirily 25, 1925. Serial No. 45,989.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, XVILLIAM P. KALFF, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hawthorne, Passaic County, State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvement-s in Switch-Point Guards, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to switch point guards, the object of the invention being to provide a guard of improved construction for protecting railway switch points against wear and tear caused by rubbing contact with the wheels of the equipment, and which guard is retained in operative position without the use of bolts for securing it to the rail.

\Vith the foregoing and other objects in view. the invention consists in the novel features of construction and combination of parts which will be more fully described hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification,

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a portion of a railway switch, illustrating the improved guard applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, looking at the inner side of the rail;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, looking at the outer side of the rail;

Fig. 4 is a partly sectional end view; and

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of one of the switch plates formed integral with the guard.

The same characters of reference designate the same parts in the different figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates one of the fixed running rails of a railroad track, and 2 the movable switch rail or point adapted to cooperate with the running rail in the usual manner.

My improved switch-point guard comprises a member preferably made integral with a pair of switch plates which pass under and are recessed for the reception of the base of the running rail in the usual manner, said switch plates being provided with openings 5 for the passage therethrough of the usual spikes for securing the plates to the ties 6. The bot-tom surface of the switch plates is preferably provided with ribs 46 extending inwardly from opposite side edges thereof, as shown in-Fig. 5, Which ribs bite into the ties and prevent the gauge of the track from widening at the point of switch. The guard is provided with a horizonta-l'portion 3 the top surface of which, when the guard is in-operative position, is flush with the top surface of the rail while the innerside of the'guard abuts against the side of the rail and is provided with projections or lugs 3"' adapted to extend under and bear against the underside of the rail head, assho-wn in dotted lines in Fig.1 and'in full 'linesjinFig. 4, said lugs thus cooperating with the"reoess in thc switch plates to lockthe guard solidly to the rail.

The guard is further provided with a vertical flange 3", the form of which is one of the main features of my invention. The side wall of this flange adjacent to the rail is curved outwardly from, said rail at its ends, while the entire middle portion there of is flat, or in a straight line parallel with the running rail. The guard is so disposed with relation to the switch point that the latter overlaps a transverse line passing across one end of said straight portion as clearly shown in Fig. 1. Owing to this peculiar format-ion of the guard and its particular disposition relatively to the switch point, the guard affords substantial protection to the thin portion of the switch point. In other words, the outer edge of the car or locomotive wheel rubs against the straight port-ion of the guard and remains in contact therewith until the point of the switch has actually been passed.

For imparting greater rigidity to the guard it is formed with reinforcing webs 3 and 3 I am aware that attempts have been made to produce a device similar to that herein described, but all of such devices with which I am familiar have proved impractical for one reason or another. One of the principal reasons isthe fact that noway was found for securing the device in place with sufiicient stability, except by bolting it directly to the rail, which was impractical, because at the point where the guard is most needed the switch point is usually provided with a reinforcing member which occupies the space between the head and base of the rail and therefore there is no place at this point for the accommodation of bolt heads or nuts. Another reason for the impracticability of prior devices with which I am familiar is the fact .thatthe vertical flange was a true arc and the only useful portion thereof, namely, the center point necessarily had to be located so faraway "from the-extreme end of the switch point that it waspassed by the wheel before the latter reached the switch point and consequently the effect of the guard was entirely lost. With the present improvement however, because of the mannerin which the-device is braced against the rail, .there is nonecessity of bolting it to :the rail, and because of the provision of ant-elongated straight portion on the guard, whic-hportion overlaps a line running transverselyacross the extreme'end of the switch pointpthe p-rotectin'g :efiiect of the guard reaches its maximum-Hat the :point where it ism-0st needed.

;Havir g thus described my invention, what Iclaimwis: v

In railway construction, the combination with-a running'ra-il and a switch point disposed .l'adjacent to said rail longitudinally thereof, of aguard member having a vertical 'fiange extending along said rail and above the same at the side thereof opposite from said switch point, said flange having its wallsuriface curved at the ends and provided with an elongated portion in a straight 'lineparal'lel with the rail, the guard being so disposed that said straight portion overhead ofthe rail thereby to brace the guard against the rail without the use of bolts, and means ton-preventingwidening ofthe track gauge at the point of switch.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification. a.

WILLIAM r. KALFF. 

